J.W. Anderson Scoops a Spanish Prize with Loewe and LVMH

Sharp-eyed fashion people might have spotted the tell-tale clue embedded in J.W. Anderson’s show in London less than two weeks ago. Not the pleats, not the flats, but a couple of surprisingly sophisticated leather handbags: a pleated drawstring pouch and a compact trapezoid top-handled shape. “My first proper handbags,” he said at the time. In retrospect, those prototypes looked suspiciously like a sly tryout for something much bigger. Long story short: Just over a week later, the London-based 29-year-old Northern Irish designer has just been named creative director of Loewe, the storied Spanish ultraluxury leather-goods house. (A position recently vacated by Brit Stuart Vevers, who’s just arrived at Coach in New York.)

Extra-good news for Jonathan Anderson is that LVMH, the French conglomerate which owns Loewe, Christian Dior, Céline, Givenchy, Kenzo (and more), has simultaneously taken a minority stake in his own company—the East End generator of more hit items than a street-blogger can keep up with. Windowpane-check sweaters, paisley tops and pants, A-line neoprene skirts, kilts, a sweater with a low diagonal side-ruffle—these mostly made-in-Britain pieces have become instant fashion trophies. “I love daywear separates, and we were coming at it when there hadn’t be much of that in fashion,” says Anderson—looking back over a history in womenswear which stretches back only as far as 2010.

He’s packed a lot in, though, in that time. The first buyer to spot J.W. Anderson’s knack for coming up with a definitive product was Yasmin Sewell, then a buyer at Liberty. After seeing his cleverly branded JWA menswear pieces, she chivied him into designing womenswear. Anderson won NEWGEN sponsorship from Topshop and the British Fashion Council; and before long, Kate Phelan of Topshop proposed a collaboration. Its two-season J.W. Anderson x Topshop ranges—mini-kilts, Halloween knits, stacked-up loafers—were wildly successful. Then Donatella Versace came calling to ask him to replace Christopher Kane at Versus Versace—with results that turned the Armory at Lexington into a mega fashion gig for one night only in May this year.

Now, with Loewe owner LVMH investing in his own fast-growing brand, Anderson says, “It’s going to mean time to not always focus on accounts, but on creativity.” So there’s another episode in the fast-moving developments which have seen, within the year, Christopher Kane and Altuzarra taken under the wing of Kering, while shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood was also snapped up by LVMH only last week. “I’m very grateful and proud of my team—it’s been such teamwork to get to this point,” said a deliriously happy Anderson, who was holed up in Paris after finishing the final deal. The first calls he made when he was fit-to-burst as his merger secrets became public news? One to Madrid to speak to Lisa Montague, Loewe’s CEO; the other to Northern Ireland, to his mother.